In a world of wolves
by ajattra
Summary: 6 drabbles set between and after the two Epitaphs. How Echo holds together in a world gone mad. Echo/Alpha, Echo/Paul & Caroline/Bennett.


**Written for** whedonland (in Livejournal)  
**Fandom:** Dollhouse  
**Pairing:** Echo/Alpha, Caroline/Bennett, Paul/Echo  
**Theme: **time between Epitaph One & Two (except the last one), exactly 100 words  
**Rating:** PG

**A/N: **Six drabbles of 100 words written for a whedonland challenge. Focus on Echo, because I'm still probably the only person, who totally loved her character arc on the show. She deserves more love in her own beautifully fucked up way ;)

.

**001: contradictions**

She still stirs awake at night, unable to tell Echo apart from Caroline. They're so close to being fully integrated now, but there are still memories and _emotions_ that don't make sense. She never expected to be so different, so wrong when compared to her original personality.

Caroline despises her, even if she can't bring herself to say so – then again _she_ despises herself too. Caroline had endangered others even after she'd sacrificed herself for _her_. She had really wanted to save the world and _get the girl_ in the end. But Bennett is dead now and Caroline has nothing.

.

**002: trust**

Echo doesn't trust Alpha, she remembers all too well the evil he did to enslave her. She remembers how he nearly destroyed Paul. His eyes were mad, but she couldn't bring herself to kill him. She doesn't know why.

He's on trial, she watches him closely and he's always watching back. He talks to her about loneliness, about _some of them_ wanting this world to burn and how he fights it. He asks if she feels the same – she denies it. He knows it's like that in her head too, so his leash is tight. One day she'll tell him.

.

**003: tears**

Echo hasn't cried for days now – her tear ducts must've finally dried out in the desert this broken world has become. She never thought she'd cry for Alpha, the mad dog who'd made her what she was. Why had he been more faithful than others? Why had he vanished into the fire when so many had already been lost and he knew she couldn't take another hit like that?

No one knows she cried for him. No one thinks she cared for him. But over the years he began to sustain her. He alone loved Echo for what she is.

.

**004: pretenders**

Paul feels good beneath her, solid. He won't leave her; he'll follow her to hell if she asks him to. He's righteous and a hard worker and during those years of chaos she did love him back.

This isn't the Paul she loved though, no, he was taken away from her a long time ago – this one is a weak imitation, a fake Topher made out of clay to replace him. Yet he's just as real as she is: just a construct that evolved on something unnatural, was born out of necessity.

Caroline and Paul would've never shared a bed.

.

**005: wolves**

It makes her sick when she watches another mindless body lay in their wake of destruction. They treat people like heard, just a collection of new bodies they can take whenever they want to. They've been resilient in their survival, even if she's been resilient to exterminate them. She's heard promises, begs, screams, but Echo has always given them all a bullet for the lives they've destroyed, the world they've ruined.

Yet the wolves keep on ruling this world no matter how many she hunts down. Justice feels empty, so it's become plain old revenge. It's what sustains her anymore.

.

**006: peace**

He shows the children the sock puppet of love again, filling the corridors with enthusiastic laughter. She stands by the door: relaxed, beautiful. Somehow watching him brings peace to her soul, mends the wounds she's built on.

Things are different now that the tech is dead. The wolves have vanished, people are free again. Echo has somehow found balance within herself.

He glances at her discreetly, glad to see her smiling. He always knew she would lighten the room with her smile.

Adelle takes over, herding the children to eat lunch. They're alone in the room now, Alpha and Omega.

.

-FIN


End file.
